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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

19 August - Blogs I'm Following

[image: Eurosam (Aster-30)]Though China has been the front runner, Turkey has now turned toward France regarding the tender for a multi-billion dollar air defense system, according to unnamed sources close to the Undersecretariat for the Defense Industry (SSM) who spoke to Today's Zaman on Monday. The sources said that SSM Undersecretary İsmail Demir held a secret meeting in France with the firm Eurosam regarding interest in the tender, which is expected to be one of the largest military projects in the history of the Turkish Republic. Last year, Turkey chose a Chinese company for ...more »

*Humans create institutions and expertise where no true expertise exists. Healing occurs not only within an individual, but within a community when there is a shared responsibility for the care and welfare of all.* M: N. Hopkins

[image: NUSHIP Canberra]Canberra, the first of two Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ships being built for the Australian Defence Force, has sailed on her final contractor sea trials before delivery to the Australian Government. The ship departed Williamstown shipyard on 12 August as planned with the trials taking place in both Port Phillip Bay and off the southern coast of New South Wales before returning to Williamstown around the end of August. Final contractor trials involve testing of the combat and communication systems along with some platform systems trials. Read more

[image: AH-64E Apache]Poland will move the purchase of 30 attack helicopters forward by two years as part of a review of its army modernisation programme triggered by the crisis in Ukraine, Polish deputy defence minister Czeslaw Mroczek said. Mroczek told Reuters that the first stage of the procurement process, originally scheduled for 2016, had already started and confirmed that 10 companies have submitted their offers but declined to name them. “The events in Ukraine are having a clear negative impact on regional and international security and have made us … realise there was a ne...more »

[image: Pantsyr-S1 (SA-22 Greyhound)]Last week, Anatoly Isaykin, general director of Rosoboronexport (the sole Russian government agency for the export and import of military products) told the mass media that negotiations between Russia, Brazil and South Africa on the joint development of weapons and military equipment within the framework of BRICS should be held by the end of this year. “For the time being, we are working directly with each country, but we are also thinking on collaborative projects involving several countries at once. In particular, three-party negotiations bet...more »

[image: F-15C Eagle]Troops and fighter aircraft from the 493rd Fighter Squadron have been sent to Bulgaria as tensions in Eastern Europe continue to run high. A dozen F-15s and approximately 180 personnel from the 493rd, based at RAF Lakenheath, England, have deployed to Graf Ignatievo Air Base to participate in a two-week bilateral training exercise with the Bulgarian air force, Pentagon spokesmen Col. Steve Warren told reporters Monday. The exercise began Monday and will continue through Sept. 1. Read more

[image: F-35A Lightning II]O Canada, land of "peace, order and good government." Land of compromise and polite politics. Land of turmoil over whether to buy the F-35. As in the United States, the fighter plane has become a rancorous political issue. What once looked like a sure buy of 65 planes has been bogged down by infighting and un-Canadian vitriol, and the purchase is on hold while Canadian officials consider whether to buy another plane. The F-35 Lightning II is a U.S. plane, made by a U.S. company for the U.S. military. But if the cost for U.S. taxpayers is going to come down...more »

[image: RQ-4B Global Hawk]During the meeting with Latvian President Andris Berzins, Latvian Safety and Protection Industries Federation representatives announced about a chance for Latvia to participate in the international NATO project "Alliance Ground Surveillance", which would secure land and aerial surveillance and aerial, using "Global Hawk" unmanned aircraft, the Presidential Press Service informed LETA. During the meeting, the federation's representatives said that the program currently involves 15 member states, and that the total costs of the project are EUR 1.27 billion. ...more »

[image: HMS Prince of Wales block]The second and final block of HMS Prince of Wales today leaves its Portsmouth shipyard hall home. The block, weighing 6,000 tons, started to be moved on more than 2,300 wheels towards the barge this morning, which will transport it to Rosyth when it leaves the city next week. Workers looked on as the operation, expected to take 10 hours in total, was coordinated with a single remote control. Read more

[image: Jamaran FS]"Today, the Navy has acquired the capability to launch the production line of destroyers and our project for building destroyers has started at the order of the Supreme Leader since a while ago and we are witnessing newer and more updated achievements in this project now," Sayyari told reporters in Tehran on Monday. He said that Iran's new destroyer named Sahand is 30% more advanced than the country's first destroyer, Jamaran. Sayyari also said that Iran will launch its new submarine, Fateh, on the Navy Day (November 28). Read more

[image: TCG Gediz]Turkey’s procurement office, in connection with state-controlled military software company Havelsan, has launched efforts to export an indigenous naval combat management system. Havelsan developed the GENESIS advanced combat management system for the US-built Oliver Hazard Perry (G)-class frigates used by the US Navy and a number of allied countries worldwide. The company has upgraded Turkish frigates with the GENESIS system. One company official said further upgrades on the system, including a ship data link system and 3-D search radar integration, are underway, s...more »

The Baltic Fleet’s main base is in the city of Baltiysk, located in Kaliningrad Region, Russia’s Baltic exclave More than 400 Russian servicemen are taking part in the coastal artillery exercises of the Russian Baltic Fleet in Kaliningrad Region, which involve over 60 units of combat equipment, the fleet’s press service reported Monday. “The purpose of the exercises is to improve the crews’ combat skills, the artillery units’ teamwork abilities, and the commanders’ practical skills in organizing offensive and defensive operations. Crew members will go through all stages of combat t...more »

[image: USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20)]Huntington Ingalls Industries announced that its AMSEC LLC subsidiary has been awarded two contracts in support of the United States Navy. Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, D.C., awarded a contract to AMSEC for technical and logistical support services, as well as material kitting services, for U.S. Navy LCC 19-class Amphibious Command ships. Material kitting services involve the pre-packaging of materials required to complete a specific task. Amphibious Command ships provide command and control for fleet commanders. A total of three indefi...more »

[image: Ghadir class SSM]Iranian Navy Commander Habibollah Sayyari announced that the home-made Fateh (Conqueror) submarine will join the Navy in late-November. The commander went on to note that Iran achieved the technology for building submarines 20 years ago, the country's official IRNA news agency reported on Aug. 18. Iran has failed to unveil the Fateh submarine despite earlier announced dates. Read more

Meet the new *permanent* youth librarian at the Mississauga Central Library. I've been in this position since January, but on a temporary or contract basis. Two big things had to happen in order for this job to post as permanent, and they were completely out of my control: two other people also had to get permanent promotions. If either of those people didn't get their permanent positions, my contract would have ended. I would have gone back to being a part-time library assistant (which would have been a huge hit both financially and in terms of responsibility) and tried for another...more »

Natan Sharansky, an Israeli intellectual, extreme right-wing neocon Zionist and ex-deputy prime minister of Israel, has written an article published in the *Washington Post* in which he says: “The pictures of destruction and mourning in Gaza that have filled media around the world for the past several weeks have been very painful and sad to view. One would be hard-pressed to find an Israeli who does not sympathize with the suffering of Gaza’s victims.” Is he nuts? Did he miss the stories about Israelis taking grandstand seats in Israel overlooking the Gaza Strip to watch the place ...more »

Peter King's son Sean works for one of the crookedest lobbying firms in America Most candidates for Congress-- and that includes incumbents-- do not run primarily on a foreign policy platform. First of all, voters do not perceive themselves affected by foreign policy on a day to day basis, and, secondly, the president, in his roles as Chief of State and Commander in Chief, has far more power on foreign policy than any individual member of Congress. Even a distinguished senator like Dick Lugar lost to “rape is something God intended” Richard Mourdock in the 2012 primary, an example of...more »

Earlier this month, we asked how many days of the week you cook at home. Results [image: Cooking at home is Eco-friendly.] [image: Cooking at home is Eco-friendly.] Comments: - I eat out MAYBE once a month. And it's an organic restaurant! - we eat out about once a fortnight - Eating out is for special occasions, with the once in a while take-out when too busy to cook. Seattle has a fabulous vegan restaurant Cafe Flora! Discussion Everyone who answered the survey cooked at home for the majority of the week (at least 4 days out of 7). Most people ate at home every day of...more »

*August 19, 2014* (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - Months after the May 22, 2014 military coup that ousted the regime of Thaksin Shinawatra, the military-led government has been working in earnest to uproot the Shinawatra political machine as well as realign the Kingdom's foreign policy to represent a better balance between China's rising power and the West's waning but meddlesome influence. *Uprooting the West's Unwarranted Influence * The regime of Thaksin Shinawatra, led by nepotist proxy via his own sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, represented an inequity between this balance. Shinawatr...more »

Pope Francis is speaking common sense in the video below. But I wish he would name the financiers and arms suppliers of ISIS and other radical Islamist terrorist groups. It is useless to single out ISIS for punishment for its criminal aggression against innocent minorities in Iraq, and leave out entities like the CIA, Mossad, MI6, as well as the intelligence agencies of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, and Jordan, all of whom have had a big hand in creating and nurturing the rogue Islamic State. If ISIS is defeated, as Al-Qaeda was, then these criminal and secretive government e...more »

“Holy Hubble! It's been almost 25 years since the Hubble Space Telescope was deployed in 1990, but the orbiting observatory keeps sending exciting new images. Just check out one of Hubble's latest images below, featuring a brilliant globular cluster full of stars that shine bright like diamonds. *Click image for larger size.* Called globular cluster IC 4499, this group of old stars orbits in the outer reaches of our Milky Way galaxy, around 55,000 light-years from Earth. In the 1990s, observations of IC 4499 puzzled astronomers because the globular cluster appeared to be much younger ...more »

*"A Prayer for the World"* "Let the rain come and wash away the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations. Let the rain wash away the memory of the hurt, the neglect. Then let the sun come out and fill the sky with rainbows. Let the warmth of the sun heal us wherever we are broken. Let it burn away the fog so that we can see each other clearly, So that we can see beyond labels, beyond accents, gender or skin color. Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness, So that we can share the joys and feel the sorrow of our neighbors. And let the lig...more »

* “The Sea Grows Old In It”* by Chet Raymo “The poet, like the electric [lightning] rod, must reach from a point nearer to the sky than all surrounding objects down to the earth, and down to the dark wet soil, or neither is of use. The poet must not only converse with pure thought, but he must demonstrate it almost to the senses. His words must be pictures, his verses must be spheres and cubes, to be seen, and smelled and handled.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson “Ah, Mr. Emerson. This seems about as good a description of poetry as one is likely to find. I love the image. Not a hand reachin...more »

*Navy Conducts First Series Of Drone And Manned Fighter Jet Operations -- L.A. Times* The U.S. Navy said its jet-powered, bat-winged X-47B drone has conducted carrier deck operations and performed maneuvers alongside an F/A-18 fighter jet, marking the first time manned and unmanned aircraft have operated together on the same carrier. Navy officials hailed the test flights of the experimental drone, which were completed Sunday on the Theodore Roosevelt in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, as a milestone in carrier-based naval aviation. "Today we showed that the X-47B could take off, lan...more »

The Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia will hold its annual conference this coming November 6-7, 2014 in Hong Kong. The theme is very timely, 'Liberalism: promoting growth, reducing inequality'. EFN annual conferences are sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), in partnership with a local think tank/s of the host city in Asia. So for this conference, the Lion Rock Institute (LRI), Hong Kong's first free market think tank, will be the co-sponsor. Among the prominent speakers will be HK Finance Secretary John Tsang, a high official from the FNF headquarter ...more »

*Almost 8,000 Navy Chiefs Face Ax; Sailors Could Advance -- USA Today* WASHINGTON — Almost 8,000 senior enlisted personnel must go before a continuation board later this year to determine whether they can continue to serve or must retire. The board — the first since early 2013 — will convene Oct. 27, according to a Navy document released Aug. 14. At risk are between 7,500 and 8,000 retirement-eligible active and reserve E-7s, E-8s and E-9s with at least at least three years' time in rate. But there is a big upside to the process: Clearing out senior enlisted who have engaged in mi...more »

*The Coming Race War Won’t Be About Race * By Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Will the recent rioting in Ferguson, Missouri, be a tipping point in the struggle against racial injustice, or will it be a minor footnote in some future grad student’s thesis on Civil Unrest in the Early Twenty-First Century? The answer can be found in May of 1970. You probably have heard of the Kent State shootings: on May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard opened fire on student protesters at Kent State University. During those 13 seconds of gunfire, four students were killed and nine were wounded, one of whom w...more »

*Kuhn was right: AGW theory will persist until it is replaced by something else* *I encountered the same in social science. Leftists need their explanations ad theories so attacking those explanations without replacing them will have nil effect* Written by Dr Jennifer Marohasy A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the Ninth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC9) in Las Vegas. If you ever doubted scepticism towards man-made global warming as a growing social movement, well, you couldn’t after attending that conference with hundreds of enthusiastic doub...more »

*This helpful guide is provided by Alexandra Petri with her washingtonpost.com post today, "Trend piece about Millennials finds new trend: that trend pieces are being written."* *by Ken* As noted above, Washingtonpost.com's Alexandra Petri has worked up this helpful flow chart to assist would-be writers of such pieces to stifle the impulse to write yet another piece about the trend of writing pieces about millennials. This department is pleased to get behind an idea so excellent that one hopes it becomes a trend. Except that should it in fact *become* a trend, this department will...more »

An M1 Abrams tank of the Iraqi security forces is seen during clashes with the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Ramadi, May 31, 2014. REUTERS/ Ali al-Mashhadani *How Much It Costs The U.S. To Blow Up Captured U.S. Military Hardware In Iraq -- Jason Field, Reuters* Last week was a weird one for American military hardware. In the United States, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAPs), AR-15s and camouflage body armor all made an appearance on the streets of a suburb in the heartland, helping to give a tense situation the push needed to turn in...more »

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-18/who-urges-exit-screening-all-travelers-ebola-infected-countries-reported-cases-go-pa WHO Urges "Exit Screening" Of All Travelers In Ebola-Infected Countries As Reported Cases Go Parabolic [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/18/2014 17:15 -0400 inShare In its strongest-worded statement yet, the World Health Organization is urging strengthened international cooperation to stop transmission of Ebola to other countries. Most critically, WHO urges:*"Affected countries are requested to conduct exit screening of all per...more »

It could be a headline straight out of the tumultuous decade that was the Sixties - NIXON CALLS OUT NATIONAL GUARD - such are these bizarre times in which we live. The volatile situation in Ferguson, Missouri continues to spin out of control going into week two. The release of the Michael Brown surveillance camera video, showing the innocent one committing an obvious criminal act has triggered an outbreak of mob violence and looting. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has called out the National Guard to put down the insurrection in a dangerous escalation that is not going to end well fo...more »

The surveillance video that was released on Friday by police in Ferguson, Missouri nicely serves to change the subject from the threat of the militarized police into yet another racially charged issue. The video does appear to show the teenager Michael Brown, who was gunned down by a local police officer in the process of committing what may be a crime. However, the series of events leading up to the shooting of Brown and the overwhelming response by fully weaponized police shock troops to the protests (and rioting) are *two separate issues* and should remain as such. What is show...more »

In a bizarre incident police gunned down a 19 year old woman who was wielding a black cordless power drill. San Jose police allegedly were responding to a 911 call from a woman threatening to kill her family with an Uzi if they didn't show up. As is becoming ever more typical in the American police state, the cops did show up and the incident ended with a hail of gunfire. Granted the power drill *did* somewhat resemble a gun but one would expect that professionally trained police officers would be able to somehow tell the difference in broad daylight. The incident took place befo...more »

House US President Barack Obama meeting with members of his national security team in the Situation Room of the White House in Washington. White House Photo, Pete Souza *Why We Fight Wars -- Paul Krugman, NYT* A century has passed since the start of World War I, which many people at the time declared was “the war to end all wars.” Unfortunately, wars just kept happening. And with the headlines from Ukraine getting scarier by the day, this seems like a good time to ask why. Once upon a time wars were fought for fun and profit; when Rome overran Asia Minor or Spain conquered Peru, i...more »

BC's government claws back $17 million in child support payments from mothers and children living in poverty. Everything about the case of the disgraced RCMP officer who tried to scam a paternity test is weird. But weirdest and most destructive is the provincial government income assistance policy that led to the crime. The same policy that ensures thousands of children will be raised in government-mandated poverty. Cst. Greg Doncaster was a rising star in the RCMP, the Times Colonist reported, stationed in the detachment policing the capital's western suburbs. In 2009, he had an af...more »

*No Sign Of Gaza Talks Breakthrough As Ceasefire Nears End -- Reuters* (Reuters) - Talks in Cairo on ending the Gaza war showed no signs of a breakthrough on Monday, with Israel and the Palestinians entrenched in their demands hours before the expiry of a five-day ceasefire. The truce is due to run out at 2100 GMT (5.00 p.m. EDT). A Palestinian source quoted by Egypt's state news agency MENA said Egyptian mediators were making "a big effort to reach an agreement in the coming hours". Both sides said gaps remained in reaching a long-term deal that would keep the peace between Isra...more »

Iraq saw nearly 5,500 casualties in July 2014. That was down from June, but that was to be expected as fighting has settled down a bit. The insurgency is still carrying out attacks across the country and laying siege to several cities, while the government continues with futile security operations. As the Iraqi security forces have lost more ground they have increasingly turned to indiscriminate attacks upon civilian areas and militias, which are carrying out sectarian killings. There was also an uprising by followers of Mahmoud Hassani Sarkhi in southern Iraq at the beginning of ...more »

*“There are times, however, and this is one of them, when even being right feels wrong. What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has been taught that rain is poison and sex is death? If making love might be fatal and if a cool spring breeze on any summer afternoon can turn a crystal blue lake into a puddle of black poison right in front of your eyes, there is not much left except TV and relentless masturbation. It's a strange world. Some people get rich and others eat shit and die.”* *― Hunter S. Thompson, Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80...more »

During the primary for Henry Waxman's congressional seat (the legendary CA-33-- Malibu, Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, Venice, Beverly Hills, Westwood, Bel Air, Brentwood, Rancho Palos Verdes, Marina del Rey, El Segundo), Blue America did a first-ever dual endorsement. It wasn't just because Establishment favorites Wendy Greuel and Matt Miller were such atrocious candidates, but because the two dogged progressive candidates we did endorse-- out of the dozen or so running-- were both so exceptional. Marianne Williamson is a charismatic, out-of-the-box visionary thinker who knows h...more »

Ho, ho, ho, now we know why they call him "Beefy". Yes, regardless of all the horrors scarring the world there's nothing quite like a celebrity dick pic to set social media a-flapping. When Ian Botham tweeted a picture purportedly to be his "old man" this morning, Twitter had one of its periodic meltdowns. Botham himself denies all knowledge: @RobbieSavage8 yes mate just changed my password !!! There's some idiots out there !! — Ian Botham (@BeefyBotham) August 18, 2014 Sure you were hacked, Ian. The just-visible chin of said willy-wafter bears no resemblance to yours at all. No awk...more »

*“Alan Shore,” “Speech on America”* A little dated, but totally accurate, and it's much worse now... "Boston Legal" character Alan Shore, an attorney, gives an interesting speech on the status quo of the American throng. It is a thought provoking video. - CP - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YI2LSK4pEQ

*Author of three best-selling books, in this excerpt from his forthcoming, and fourth, our guest poster Bill Bonner eviscerates what passes for modern economics.* Excerpt from *Hormegeddon: How Too Much of a Good Thing Leads to Disaster **By Bill Bonner* *Prepare for Hormogeddon* This book has a modest ambition: to catch a faint glimmer of truth, perhaps out of the corner of our eye. What truth? It is a phenomenon I call Hormegeddon. German pharmacologist Hugo Schulz first described its scientific antecedent in 1888. He put small doses of lethal poison onto yeast and found that...more »

This news r eport last August 8, 2014, was posted with discussion by Atty. Joey Ochave at the Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) Philippines email loop. Joey is the Vice-Chairman of MeTA Philippines, SVP of Unilab, and a friend way back in UP Diliman undergrad in the 80s. Here is Joey's discussion. Posting this with his permission. It is a well-written, well-argued piece as always, which many people outside of MeTA would be interested to learn. My short comments and Joey's reply further below. A bit long, about four pages, enjoy. --------- Parallel Importation and Patent Lin...more »

*“Widespread Support for Sending Politicians to Prison for Ninety-Nine Years”* by Andy Borowitz AUSTIN (The Borowitz Report)— "Last week’s indictment of Texas Governor Rick Perry has sparked widespread bipartisan support for the concept of sending politicians to prison for ninety-nine years. While Americans are divided about the merits of the specific charges levelled against Perry, there is near-unanimous agreement that imprisoning politicians for ninety-nine years is an idea worth exploring further, a poll released on Monday indicates. According to the poll, eighty-seven per cen...more »

*"Armed Humanitarianism 2.0:* *The U.S. Empire of Death and Lies”* by Eric Margolis “Armed humanitarianism 2.0. That’s our new western version of old-fashioned 19th century imperialism, now feminized by President Barack Obama’s lady advisors, painted pink and accompanied by the kind of soft piano music you hear in ads for women’s products. Last week, the Obama administration latched onto the plight of Iraq’s Yazidis who were being persecuted by those awful ISIS folks - just in jolly good time to divert attention from the massacre in Gaza. How handy. All three US networks and the in...more »

*Separation of phase levels appears in all media of energy* by ÉirePort Separation of phase levels appears in all media of energy. Prescience of Light Beings enhances velocity of awakenings. Transitions to appropriate-for-each levels of BEingness occurs rapidly at this moment. Resolutions of long standings occurs rapidly at this moment. Penetrations of Cosmics occurs rapidly at this moment. ÉirePort | August 18, 2014 at 18:32 | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2sFUY-sk

REUTERS/Stringer Iraq U*S, UK Leadership Warn Iraq Mission Won't be Quick; US Escalates Air Offensive -- Defense News* WASHINGTON — In an interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman on Aug. 7, President Barack Obama promised that while the United States would use its formidable air power to help Iraq push back extremist Islamic State fighters from Erbil and other key northern Iraqi cities, Baghdad shouldn’t count on the US “being the Iraqi Air Force.” But just 10 days later the White House sent a very different letter to Capitol Hill, in which it informed congressional...more »

By Capt. Fogg Browse around the web and you'd think the world was going crazy and no, I'm not talking about Ferguson, MO. Perhaps it is and perhaps we're all crazy too, but within a couple of minutes looking for stories other than about Ferguson, I found out far more than I wanted to know about a morgue attendant indicted for having sex with a hundred corpses of crime victims. Good thing I skipped lunch today. But on any particular day you'll get demented Christian leaders telling us that public nursing causes people to become gay. Maybe all those baby Jesus pictures in churches d...more »

*“What All This Bad News Is Doing to Us”* By Jesse Singal “A terrifying jihadist group is conquering and butchering its way across big swaths of Iraq and Syria. Planes are falling out of the sky on what seems like a weekly basis. Civilians are being killed in massive numbers in the Israel-Gaza conflict. Others are falling prey to Ebola in West Africa. The world, in short, is falling apart. That’s how it feels, at least, to those of us who sit at a blessed remove from the death and destruction, but who are watching every bloody moment of it via cable news and social media. It raises...more »

*Iraqi Forces Seize Mosul Dam -- Wall Street Journal* *Two Days Into Ground Offensive, Insurgents Driven Out* BADRIYA, Iraq—Iraqi and Kurdish ground forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, recaptured the strategic Mosul Dam on Monday after two days of fighting with Islamist insurgents, a Kurdish military spokesman said. Helgurd Hikmet, a spokesman for the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, said they have taken "complete control" of the fragile dam and there was no longer any fighting at or around the facility. Earlier, Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for Iraq's military in Baghdad, said the Iraqi ...more »

A Ukrainian serviceman guards a checkpoint outside Donetsk. Thomson Reuters *The United States Will Face Tough Choices If Russia And Ukraine Go To War -- Peter Apps, Business Insider/Reuters* If Russia and Ukraine slide into outright war, the United States and allies will face tough choices on how to support a friendly state they have no intention of making a full NATO member. In what appeared to be a dramatic escalation on Friday, Ukraine said it had destroyed much of a column of armored vehicles that had entered its territory from Russia. Moscow dismissed the account as "fantasy...more »

*but first claims impartiality. * I sure didn't see that: This wasn't a press conference. It was "let's lynch a cop" conference. *Some of the things that I thought while listening to this so-called conference. * I'm at 5 minutes and already I'm annoyed. Crump, the attorney for the family of Michael Brown, is blathering about eyewitnesses, who have proven to be, in most cases, most unreliable. Oooops - now we're dragging mom into it. And how many times is he going to say "execute." Why all the "dis" and "dat's" from so-called educated men? Dr. Baden just said that the shot to t...more »

Armed pro-Russian separatists look on at a town center in Snizhnye in eastern Ukraine June 12, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov *Betrayal, Desertion Could Mean Execution, Ukraine Rebel Leaders Warn Fighters -- Reuters* (Reuters) - Under growing pressure from a government offensive, the rebel leadership in Ukraine's battle-torn east warned its fighters on Monday that desertion and betrayal could be met by execution. The warning appeared to signal a growing concern by the leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) over a breakdown of discipline in the fig...more »

A Russian convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Ukraine travels along a road south of the city of Voronezh, Aug. 14, 2014. Maxim Shemetov/Reuters *The Prospect Of War Looms Over Ukraine, Russia -- MSNBC* Zack Beauchamp and Max Fisher asked the sort of question on Friday that needs an answer: “Did Russia and Ukraine just start a war?” The answer probably isn’t as obvious as it should be. Wars often come with some kind of qualifier – there are, among other things, hot wars, cold wars, open wars, and civil wars. Do any of these apply to developments in Ukraine? The answer obv...more »

Dan Johnson of PANDA (People against NDAA) joins Blake Walley to gives his first-hand account of his experience in Ferguson at curfew time. *Get truth delivered to your inbox every week.* Subscribe to GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING by Email

*by Brendan James* New video released Monday reportedly showing the immediate aftermath of the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson. CNN aired the footage Monday during an interview with eyewitness Piaget Crenshaw, who said she recorded it following the Aug. 9 shooting. According to Crenshaw, the footage shows Michael Brown's body laying in the middle of the street as Wilson stood over him speaking to another officer. "God bless his soul, the police shot this boy outside my apartment," Cr...more »

*“West’s Historic Drought Stokes Fears of Water Crisis”* By Joby Warrick WILLOWS, Calif. —” When the winter rains failed to arrive in this Sacramento Valley town for the third straight year, farmers tightened their belts and looked to the reservoirs in the nearby hills to keep them in water through the growing season. When those faltered, some switched on their well pumps, drawing up thousands of gallons from underground aquifers to prevent their walnut trees and alfalfa crops from drying up. Until the wells, too, began to fail. Now, across California’s vital agricultural belt, ner...more »

*MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014* *In search of journalistic values:* Michael Brown’s death is a major event. All this week, we’ll be discussing the way our major news orgs have reported, or have failed to report, the unfolding chain of events. According to our civics texts, we need good journalism at times like this. In our view, the journalism hasn’t been especially good to date. Final note: We're postponing our award-winning series, The Houses of Journalist County. We still plan to present that award-winning work, with its links to inspiring photo spreads. But these events come first...more »

*MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014* *When journalists fashion cartoons:* Was Richard Nixon already crazy when he was just 11? That’s the sense of Rick Perlstein’s writing in his 2008 best-seller, Nixonland. We started discussing this topic last weekend. This is the highly peculiar passage in question: PERLSTEIN (page 21): *Richard Nixon was a serial collector of resentments. He raged for what he could not have or control.* At the age of seven, he so wanted a jar of pollywogs a younger boy had collected from the forbidden canal that he beaned the kid in the head with a toy hatchet (his vict...more »

*Russia Says No Progress On Ukraine Truce At Talks -- Deutsche Welle* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said Berlin talks on a truce in Ukraine failed to make any progress. But he said all issues relating to a Russian aid convoy for Ukraine had been resolved. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that no progress had been made toward resolving the conflict in Ukraine at crisis talks over the weekend in Berlin. Following the talks between the foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France on Sunday, Lavrov told a Berlin news conference that the ...more »

*Ukraine Says Army Controls Center Of A Rebel City -- New York Times* DONETSK, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military on Sunday moved into the heart of the separatist hub of Luhansk for the first time, officials said, chipping at one of the cornerstones of the pro-Russia rebels’ disintegrating virtual state. Ukrainian officials said army units had raised the national flag over a police station in central Luhansk, the eastern city that, along with Donetsk, has been a center of rebel activity and an important destination for Russian fighters and aid. Other parts of Luhansk, however, were ...more »

Over the next few weeks I'll be focusing on issues of science advice to governments, as I attend the "Science Advice to Governments" conference in Auckland, New Zealand. It is being characterized as a science advice "summit." I'll be participating on a panel focused on "Science advice in the context of opposing political / ideological positions" along with the chief scientific advisor to the Australian government, Ian Chubb, and the chief scientific advisor to Defra, Ian Boyd, among others. The conference is being convened by ICSU and hosted by Sir Peter Gluckman, chief science adv...more »

*Dozens Killed In Attack On Convoy, Ukraine Says; Rebels Deny Firing Rocket -- Reuters* (Reuters) - Dozens of people, including women and children, were killed fleeing fighting in eastern Ukraine on Monday when their convoy of buses was hit by rocket fire, military spokesmen said. Ukraine accused pro-Russian rebels of targeting the convoy, which it said was bearing white flags when it was hit near the eastern city of Luhansk. The separatists denied responsibility for the attack and one rebel leader suggested the incident might never have taken place. "The rebels were expecting th...more »

I have heard people being called racists and Islamophobes for saying that Palestinians don't have the same attitude towards death as most Western people.Of course Palestinian mothers love their children and want them to live as much as we do in the West, they say. Judge for yourself... Watch it all and wonder like me at the attitude that that Palestinian displays. I wonder if the BBC would be interested in broadcasting this video? Come on Jeremy Al Bowen and Lyse Dousett...

http://www.scenicreflections.com/ You know the Conservatives are in trouble when Ian MacDonald says they are. No Liberal or Dipper, MacDonald got into politics as a spokesman for Brian Mulroney and as an ardent supporter of his high school classmate, Jim Flaherty. But now he is worried. The latest EKOS poll is bad news all around: This isn’t the one bad poll in 20. And it wasn’t a one-night stand. The Liberals now lead the Conservatives by 38.7 to 25.6 per cent, with the NDP at 23.4 per cent. In effect, the Liberals have doubl...more »

The situation in Ferguson Missouri continues to deteriorate as curfew is imposed and the Governor calls in the National Guard. We have Activist World News Now, Infowars, Vice News, local Fox2News, "I am Mike Brown from Ferguson MO" Liberty News Media, PANDA's Dan Johnson, Vice News' Tim Pool and STL County Police Scanner, as well (you can view all livestreams below). Reddit also has a live stream gathering all the information coming out as it happens here. *If you lose the connection, refresh screen.* activistworldnewsnow on livestream.com. Broadcast Live...more »

Politicians and anti-Israel media often assure us that Mahmoud Abbas the elected (albeit long, long ago) Palestinian Authority President is a man of peace and Israel's partner in peace. Watch the above video and see what you think... I wonder if anyone at the BBC could watch that video and still push the line that Mahmoud Abbas is Israel's partner in peace? Actually I know the answer to that, of course they can and would.

As you probably know, Blue America endorsed Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu over Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul in the New York State gubernatorial race. Last night we sent this letter to all Blue America members. Give it a look and if you do contribute-- regardless of amount-- you automatically become a Blue America member. Our goal is to do what conventional wisdom-- the brain surgeons who laughed when anyone suggested David Brat would beat Eric Cantor-- says can't be done: replace Andrew Cuomo with a progressive icon even before he's indicted on corruption charges and New York winds ...more »

Today's Independent, not a paper that I ever read as I find it's incessant anti-Israel tone highly offensive, published an interesting letter today: I’m just an ordinary middle-aged Londoner. I work in an office. I go to football. I like eating out. I enjoy the arts. I am a proud family man. I give up time for charity work. I try to be a decent contributing member of society. I pay my taxes honestly. But there appears to be something that sets me and my kind apart. At park gates in East London a friend of mine gets told to f**k off for photographing a flag. At a pub in Bath my wife g...more »

"Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice." Henry David Thoreau, *Civil Disobedience*, 1849 (By *American Zen*'s Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari.) Perhaps only the illiteracy quotient of your average teabagger accounts for their not fully embracing Henry David Thoreau. The New England transcendentalist and abolitionist who once famously said, "That government is best which governs least" would've been apoplectic had he seen what's going on in Ferguson, Missouri. He definitely woul...more »

*where are the protesters?* From *Second City Cop:* *Police said a 16-year-old boy was found with a gunshot wound to the head around 1:15 a.m. Sunday in the city’s Humboldt Park neighborhood.Police were responding to a report of a person shot in the 900 block of North Karlov Avenue and found the teen on the sidewalk. He was transported in critical condition where he was later pronounced dead.* Among the casualties: - *Early Saturday, a 16-year-old girl was fatally shot in a possible drive-by shooting in the city’s Englewood neighborhood. Police said the girl was st...more »

I did a video this morning about the silence on MH17 black box results and how no one mentions the shooting down of the plane anymore. Since then ITAR released an article where Russia is asking the UN security council to do a briefing about MH17.

Last week I watched Ken Burns' latest documentary about the great American author Mark Twain. It was a fascinating portrait of a fascinating man, although it gave short-shrift to his most radical views, which included being Vice-President of the Anti-Imperialist League which opposed the annexation of the Philippines by the United States. The film did mention Twain's stinging denunciation of King Leopold II, the man responsible for the death of 10 million Congolese in the late 1800's. My interest in Twain awakened by the film, I picked up my copy of *A Connecticut Yankee in King Art...more »

Follow the money. In an event like this there is a money shot. It reminds me so much of the Watergate burglary which is complicated but basically was a message to Nixon he had become a liability. A clumsy robbery with no loot, who won who lost history will always have to dispute. Can not leave the discussion without forwarding the opinion that Bob Woodward was a company man. Following the same sick train of thought. Justin's house was targeted to make an impression on him and the ones that hate the man. Will he curb his travel? Will this event make him more crime and punishment bo...more »

*Logical Fallacy: a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning; the logical fallacy of assuming the conclusion in the premises* *Blowback* is a logical fallacy- * the logical fallacy of assuming the conclusion in the premises* *Blowback*, as commonly touted by the lying war mongering media, is always presented in this fashion: *unforseen consequences from previous actions* Emphasis always on the *“unforseen” * *Unforseen*-* defined as not anticipated or predicted.* *Unforseen goes hand in hand with the ‘incompetence’ meme constantly and continuously.* *These mind viruses wo...more »

by Amanda Shea Al Sharpton isn’t the only race baiter to descend on Ferguson to take advantage of the tangle of tear gas, tanks, and snarling police dogs — the Ku Klux Klan is seizing the opportunity to spread their hate and ignorance in this hotbed of racial tension over the shooting death of black teenager Michael Brown. After the identity of the officer who shot Brown was released, the Klan rushed to rally around Officer Darren Wilson to raise reward money for this cop at the center of the shooting controversy, whereas the Klan’s co...more »

A fantastic song by the Boomtown Rats and a one hit wonder that oracled the Kardashians. As I thinkaboot this Monday I reflect. Fergus is only the first Falija light for America. Thats a good sign because on the Falujia scale America has had many lite fat events, and its trending heavy. Wait for the first IED to take out one of those monstrous police tanks. The real problem is that America and the white picket fence increasingly makes black people think they are living in Gaza. Sure every judge, police leader, and any other high fluten position possible is held by a black pers...more »

Just a month ago the amount of war rhetoric and accusations against Russia from the U.S. and other Western countries was loud and screaming. Russia/Putin must pay, per Hillary Clinton. Ukraine wanted NATO military immediately to go against Russia. Now MH17 has been forgotten. It is almost as if it never happened from the silence. I have done a search about the black box results from

In November 2014, a new emotional movie will hit the cinemas. *A trailer plus a review. The talkative reviewer thinks that the filmmakers were cheating when they suggested that Hawking and his wife were saints who transcended the disease. True but the most ambitious movies like that aren't documentaries, anyway.* "A Theory of Everything" is a film about Hawking's life, work, and medical disorder. But it is primarily a movie about his love life, a movie focusing on Jane Hawking, his wife through 1995. Search Google News for various reviews. The British "Metro" is among the o...more »

Hate: *a* *:* intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury *b* *:* extreme dislike or antipathy *:* loathing hate What's the problem? "Hate" is a strong emotion. And strong emotions are really felt by children. They can go from the depths of despair (their ice cream fell out of their ice cream cone) to intense joy (they got a new ice cream cone and the monkey behind the glass is doing something funny) in a matter of minutes. When adults do that, we (obviously) call them "childish." One can get swept along by their emotions. (The initial...more »

*MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014* *Part 1—Today, we get one basic fact:* In a case where we don’t have a whole lot of facts, we finally got one basic fact in this morning’s New York Times. Here it is: According to the New York Times, 18-year-old Michael Brown *wasn’t* shot in the back. If Brown *had* been shot in the back, it would have been hard to imagine a scenario in which the shooting was legal. As it turns out, Brown was shot at least six times—but he wasn’t shot in the back. This brings us to the front page of yesterday’s hard-copy Washington Post. On a journalistic basis, we th...more »

Jon Rappoport I’ve published the essence of this article before. I continue to reprint it, now and then, because it illustrates a basic fact about the mainstream press: Not only are they part of the problem; not only are they creating problems; not only are they sold out; the reporters themselves, who should be able to work up astonishment at mind-boggling facts, have lost that capacity. They’ve lost the very urge that got them into the journalism trade in the first place. They’ve offloaded the ability to be shocked and outraged. They’ve forgotten how to be surprised. If...more »

VICE News have made a fantastic documentary from within the self proclaimed Islamic State. You should watch all of the parts, they will open your minds and maybe scare you too. This part 4 is I think is interesting as it shows from 7:54 a young boy who would be called a child if killed by Israel.

Eva Galperin & Parker Higgins *EFF* With major protests in the news again, we decided it's time to update our cell phone guide for protesters. A lot has changed since we last published this report in 2011, for better and for worse. On the one hand, we've learned more about the massive volume of law enforcement requests for cell phone—ranging from location information to actual content—and widespread use of dedicated cell phone surveillance technologies. On the other hand, strong Supreme Court opinions have eliminated any ambiguity about the unconstitutionality of warrantless sear...more »

A Russian convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid for Ukraine drives along a road from Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in the direction of the border with Ukraine, Rostov Region, August 17, 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Alexander Demianchuk *Ukraine, Rebels Accuse Each Other Of Attacking Refugee Bus Convoy -- Reuters* (Reuters) - Ukraine accused pro-Russian rebels on Monday of hitting a refugee convoy of buses with rocket fire near the eastern city of Luhansk, killing people trapped in the burning vehicles, but the separatists denied responsibility. Ukrainian military spokesmen said the bus convo...more »

Bernie Suarez Some people may read this and say, no way, this is not a solution but I challenge your belief and I offer that this is indeed an effective and powerful way to move forward as a humanity with regard to the ongoing atrocities in Gaza. Is there actually a way to end the war crimes in Gaza? There is, but the answer lies in our humanity not in politics, politicians, or a rigid ideology. Ideologies that result in human deaths are ideologies of hatred no matter how anyone spins it. We, as a humanity, must find a way of ending ideologies of hatred that serve political purpos...more »

President Barack Obama meets with his national security advisors in the Situation Room of the White House, Aug. 7, 2014. Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza *The Evolving Obama Doctrine: Limited Bombing Raids, Stronger Partnerships -- John T. Bennett and Paul McLeary, Defense News* WASHINGTON — Iraq again has descended into sectarian violence and political chaos. An Islamic extremist group controls more land than al-Qaida ever has. Vladimir Putin appears poised to invade eastern Ukraine. As those global hotspots — and others, like northern Africa — all moved closer in...more »

Freda Art Ron Paul We have been at war with Iraq for 24 years, starting with Operations Desert Shield and Storm in 1990. Shortly after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait that year, the propaganda machine began agitating for a US attack on Iraq. We all remember the appearance before Congress of a young Kuwaiti woman claiming that the Iraqis were ripping Kuwaiti babies from incubators. The woman turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US and the story was false, but it was enough to turn US opposition in favor of an attack. This month, yet another US president – the...more »

Michael Snyder If I had a cure for Ebola, I could never sell it to you. I don’t have a cure for Ebola of course, but even if I did I could never promote it. And if you have a cure for Ebola and you start promoting it on the Internet, men with guns could soon show up at your door. Unfortunately, I am not kidding. Even if you have made a discovery that could potentially save millions of lives, that will not earn you an ounce of mercy from the FDA. In fact, the FDA has just issued a statement that contains a chilling warning for anyone that is claiming that they know how to pr...more »

Alissa J. Rubin, a Times reporter, on the left, and Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi lawmaker. Credit Adam Ferguson for The New York Times *On a Helicopter, Going Down: Inside a Lethal Crash in Iraq -- Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times* *Alissa J. Rubin, a veteran Times foreign correspondent, was injured on Tuesday in a helicopter crash in Kurdistan and dictated the following article from her hospital bed in Istanbul, where she was evacuated from Iraq. She suffered broken bones and a fractured skull but was in stable condition, and was scheduled to be taken by air to the United States on Sunda...more »

Image from Insite Blog *Islamic State Challenging Al-Qaeda for Leadership -- Bloomberg* The radical Islamic State’s advances in Iraq are strengthening its challenge to al-Qaeda in a contest for the leadership of the global jihadi movement, according to five U.S. intelligence officials. Its territorial gains and declaration of a caliphate spanning parts of Syria and Iraq, reinforced by its use of social media to broadcast its accomplishments in many languages, are attracting recruits and even drawing defections from the leadership of the core al-Qaeda group and some affiliates, th...more »

*The Syrian Revolution Is Running Out Of Room As ISIS And Assad Close In -- Rana Moussaoui, Agence France Presse* Western-backed rebels in northern Syria are fighting to survive in the face of advances on their strongholds both by jihadists and government forces, analysts and regime opponents say. The opposition has sounded the alarm, appealing indirectly to the international community to carry out air strikes on jihadist Islamic State (IS) positions in Syria, like the United States has done in Iraq. "More than ever the rebellion is caught in a pincer movement between the regime ...more »

Rand Paul and Sharron Angle… what could possibly go wrong? David Frum-- your grandpa's version of a Republican-- is worried that those nutty Libertarians are making inroads into his party again. Last week he took issue with Robert Draper's assertion that Rand Paul is the solution to the GOP's demographic problems. "What he wrote was not true. But it felt true to him… Draper’s wrong," he insisted, "emphatically wrong. Young voters are not libertarian, nor even trending libertarian. Neither, for that matter, are older voters. The 'libertarian moment' is not an event in American culture...more »

(My apologies for strong language but a fellow can only put with so much nonsense. Anyhow, to be foretold is to be forewarned.) Apparently former federal MP Jim Prentice was in town this past weekend to drum up local support for his run at the premiership to be decided next month. Now nothing against the guy personally but when I read in local media here about some of what he had to say, I could only really shake my head and wonder who writes his talking points. In the world according to Jim, we have great local leadership in our local MLA's. I'm sure we do......ok, other than ...more »

*62,000 New Yorkers Sign Petition to 'Stop Common Core' After Flat Results* On New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s official website, he touts the merits and needs of Common Core, an educational program detailing what students should know in regards to math and English by the end of the 12th grade: “The Common Core standards are a critical part of transforming New York’s schools, and the failure to effectively implement them has led to confusion and frustration among students and their families.” Despite his initial optimism surrounding Common Core, however, New York test scores have r...more »

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias We are hitting a huge milestone in our house this upcoming week. My little girl starts kindergarten. She is completely oblivious to the fact that she is supposed to be nervous about school starting soon, but I sit here with knots in my stomach hoping she loves it as much as I want her to. Instead of focusing on my nerves, I have thrown myself into getting her ready and in our house, that means everything FROZEN. My little girl and I picked up a backpack, folders a...more »

Snowden with Former CIA and NSA chief General Michael Hayden at a gala in 2011. Courtesy of Edward Snowden via Wired *We Now Know A Lot More About Edward Snowden's Epic Heist — And It's Troubling -- Michael B Kelley, Business Insider* Edward Snowden's in-depth interview with James Bamford of Wired offers details about his last job as a contractor for the NSA in Honolulu, which raise disconcerting questions about the motives of the former systems administrator. While working at two consecutive jobs in Hawaii from March 2012 to May 2013, the 31-year-old allegedly stole about 200,000...more »

*Source: Planeta UFO and Diario El Día (Chile)Date: 08.12.14* *Chile: Regional Businessman Photographs UFO During World Cup Games* *By Cristian Riffo* Photo taken by businessman Carlos Ruiz showing the city of Ouro Preto and a self-luminous disk-shaped object in the sky. Thousands of compatriots traveled to Brazil to see Chile playing in the most recent World Cup games. One of them was Carlos Ruiz, a local businessman and former Assistant Dean of the University of Aconcagua. Aside from attending all of Team Chile's games, his goal was to enjoy the beauty of Brazil's cities. Thus,...more »

*Source: Tiempo de San Juan (Argentina) and Planeta UFODate: 08.18.2014* *Argentina: Uproar in Valle Fertil over Alleged UFO* **** Residents of Valle Fertil claim that an Unidentified Flying Object flew over the region ****** Valle Fertil journalist claims having seen the UFO **** Residents of the department of Valle Fertil report seeing a UFO flying over the area on Thursday afternoon. It vanished two hours later. Photos have appeared on social media showing a light in the sky, and local residents affirm that it is the unidentified flying object. Furthermore, minutes before th...more »

Sometimes I wonder if the Labour Party is just full to the brim with idiots, here's a tweet from Ed Miliband (@ed_miliband) from this morning... Yes, the Labour leader, a man who says that he has more intellectual self confidence than David Cameron has tweeted with the hashtag #LabourNo I'd say it was unbelievable but it;'s really just par for the course for Ed Miliband and his band of undergraduate level debaters. Maybe they should have thought about it for just a little longer before tweeting #LabourNo at 01:48, maybe a little over-tired? Well on the plus side, @ed_miliband will...more »

[image: Hilarion] *Hilarion's Weekly Message* by Marlene Swetlishoff Dear Ones, It is a glorious time for planet Earth as she goes through the next phase of her cosmic ascension and this will be felt by all of humanity in the coming days. It is an energy that will be stepped down in intensity so that all of her inhabitants can absorb the more refined energies. It is helpful to go within often and be open to receive the incoming energies with the intent of utilizing them to their fullest capacity and also by intending to align consciously several times each day with the highest a...more »

Zero Hedge..... Ron Paul: "What Have We Accomplished In Iraq?" [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/17/2014 22:01 -0400 - Iraq - Kuwait - Obama Administration - President Obama - Ron Paul - Turkey - Ukraine inShare4 *By Ron Paul* *What Have We Accomplished in Iraq?* We have been at war with Iraq for 24 years, starting with Operations Desert Shield and Storm in 1990. Shortly after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait that year, the propaganda machine began agitating for a US attack on Iraq. We all remember the appearance before Congr...more »

*Out walking the dog, found this beautiful walking stick.* Taiwan expert Jon Sullivan with an excellent piece on the DPP, Taiwan identity, social class issues, and politics at The National Interest. He scribes: Notwithstanding underlying trends in public opinion, a spate of recent academic publications suggests that this may indeed be happening. *They suggest that a new economic cleavage based on class has not just mitigated national identity, but has replaced it.* Because of the unusual equality of growth during Taiwan’s “economic miracle,” combined with the dominance of national...more »

*August 18, 2014* (Ulson Gunnar - NEO) - The US spent over two billion dollars during NATO’s armed assault on Libya both in ordnance used during months of aerial bombardment and in covert support for terrorists used as proxy ground forces in the overthrow of the Libyan government. The United Kingdom is estimated to have spent even more. Hundreds of millions were spent by other NATO members throughout the duration of the assault. The “protection of civilians” was repeatedly cited as the altruistic justification for such an expenditure in manpower and financial resources. In the wak...more »

*August 18, 2014* (Eric Draitser - RT) - The ousting of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is part of a broader US plan for Iraq and the Middle East as a whole. Against the backdrop of the war against the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), Washington has managed to kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes. Not only has the US removed a political leader who had proven to be problematic due to his opposition to US military presence in Iraq, as well as his staunch support for Syria and President Assad, they have also created the conditions for the dismemberment of the...more »

*"When Humanity can let go of being controlled through fear and resist judging others and follow the deeper urgings of their hearts then, and only then, will we be able to soar to new heights of understanding, letting go of the shackles that we have allowed to bind us, discovering some of the very real mysteries that when understood will move us to new heights of awareness."* Michael B. *To read more of Michael's writings visit:* *http://www.missionignition.net/btb/*

[image: Philip Breedlove]Philip Breedlove, Nato’s top military commander, has said that if Russia does what it did in Crimea to a Nato state, it would be considered an act of war against the alliance. Referring to Russia’s actions in Crimea in March, he told Germany’s Die Welt newspaper on Sunday (17 August): “The most important thing is that Nato nations are prepared for the so-called green men: armed military without insignia who create unrest, occupy government buildings, incite the population; separatists who educate and give military advice and contribute to the significant des...more »

[image: T-72 MBT]India has started ramping up military defences in the Ladakh sector of Jammu and Kashmir that faces China, especially after Beijing has ringed the area with at least six airfields, fighter aircraft, all terrain vehicles and special forces that are backed by top-class metalled roads right up to the Line of Actual Control (LAC). New Delhi will be moving an armoured brigade — some 150 T-72 tanks — to Ladakh and also have Smerch multi-barrel rocket launch units placed at key locations. These are capable of hitting targets 70-80 kms away. An armoured regiment — 46 tanks ...more »

[image: Dassault Rafale]The much-awaited multi-billion Rafale combat aircraft deal with France has moved a step further with the defence ministry finalizing a 'draft contract', according to top defence ministry officials. Rafale was declared the lowest bidder in Janaury 2012 but the deal has not been inked so far on account of escalation in the cost. The Cost Negotiation Committee, which was set up in February 2012 to work out the modalities for the deal has not reached a conclusion after 30 months of negotiations. The government raised its concerns over this last month, during the...more »

[image: Heron UAV]The Canadian military’s almost decade-long quest to buy unmanned aerial vehicles has been partly hung up by an internal debate about whether the air forces needs one — or two — different fleets of drones, the Canadian Press news service has reported. A series of internal briefings, stretching back over two years, show that military planners were forced to go back to the drawing board in early 2013 after consultations determined what the country wants to accomplish with the remotely piloted planes might be too broad for just a single type of aircraft, the news servi...more »

[image: RAF Tornado F3 Fighters]Britain is stepping up its military involvement in the fight against jihadi forces from the Islamic State in Iraq after the defence secretary Michael Fallon confirmed that British warplanes are flying deeper into Iraq in a mission that could last "months". As David Cameron declared that Britain should be prepared to deploy its "military prowess" to help defeat the jihadis, Fallon said that Britain's involvement in Iraq is fast expanding beyond the initial humanitarian mission to relieve Yazidi refugees besieged on Mount Sinjar. "This is not simply a h...more »

The movement of jets aboard an aircraft carrier flight deck is often compared to a ballet, with sailors in multicolored shirts guiding fighter pilots and their jets in a tightly choreographed dance. So what happens if you add a robot to the human performers? The Navy attempted to answer that question Sunday aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, where, for the first time, the service's prototype of an unmanned stealth plane, the X-47B, took off and landed on a carrier flight deck alongside traditional fighter jets. Read more

[image: Lada class SSK]China reportedly signed two military sale frameworks with Moscow, of which Russia will jointly build four Amur-Class AIP submarines with China and sell them to the country while China will buy 24 Su-35 fighters from Russia, reports Sina's military news portal. It is the first major military procurement China has made with Russia in 10 years, said the report. China needs submarines to counter threats from India's fleet and build a fleet to resist America's influence, said the Voice of Russia, the Russian government's international radio broadcasting service. ...more »

Can you believe that we are headed Back to School already? The ending of summer snuck up on me like it never has before. My husband used to be a school teacher and usually by this point in the summer I was ready for him to go back. Ready for our daily routine to fall back into place and get our normal back. This year, my little girl starts kindergarten and I am not sure that I am ready for that to be our new normal. Instead of focusing on my jitters, I thought I would focus on something fun instead. I have teamed up with 9 other awesome bloggers to bring you $150 to Amazon. Check o...more »

by Dave Hodges What the mainstream media is not reporting is beginning to leak out from local citizens in St. Louis and from an informant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who are all telling a different story that the one you are seeing on Fox, CNN and CBS. First, the locals are reporting that the rioting has spread far beyond the Ferguson city limits. Rioting is taking place as far away as St. Charles which is located approximately 20 miles away from Ferguson. Second, more people are becoming aware that the police chief of Ferguson, Th...more »

The guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) pulls alongside the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush as an MH-60S Sea Hawk takes off from the flight deck on Aug. 13. (Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joshua Card) *An Inside Look At Life Aboard The USS George H.W. Bush In 19 Photos -- Daily Signal* Aircraft from the USS George H.W. Bush have facilitated airstrikes on the Islamic State militants in Iraq since Aug. 8. Their goal is to protect American citizens and personnel in Iraq, and help the Yezidi religious minority hiding with little ...more »

In June my friend Qiao Li explained the concept of China's Naked Officials for us: "Naked officials" (裸体官员) are Chinese bureaucrats who send their family members overseas with the illegal assets they amassed through corruption and graft. These officials are “naked” as they are the only ones left behind, working hard to accumulate and funnel capitals overseas under the names of their relatives to popular destinations like the U.S., Canada and the U.K, investing their transferred funds in financial, real estate, energy, and other lucrative sectors. Banking on bribes to allow force...more »

[image: Interview - Lisa Bell of Solarproducts.me]*Lisa Bell of Solarproducts.me* *I first met Lisa Bell on Ozoshare. Her profile fascinated me. She shared a lot of great content on everyday solar products.As I got acquainted with Lisa, I learned that she owns Solarproducts.me where, in addition to selling solar items, she educates both adults and children on solar energy. I've found wonderful articles and resources on the site.I recently had the opportunity to ask Lisa a few questions. Here's our interview:* *SF:* Hi Lisa, thanks for joining us today. When did you first become ...more »

Have you ever tried to make yourself cry (to clear out the clogs (over political realities, of course)) - get irrationally emotional - blame everyone who treated you badly in exactly the sensitive manner in which you thought they deserved? Not me. I credit this: Join the march. Sign the petition! 100,000 People Sign-up To Support NYT Reporter James Risen, Who Is Facing Jail* More

The AIDS Crisis - Webster Tarpley on Crossfire (1986) from Spike EP on Vimeo . California Proposition 64, or the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Act of 1986, was on the November 4, 1986 ballot in California as an initiated state statute, where it was defeated. * Yes: 2,039,744 (29.3%) No: 5,012,255 (70.7%) * * "Declares that AIDS is an infectious, contagious and communicable disease and that the condition of being a carrier of the HTLV-III virus is an infectious, contagious and communicable condition. Requires both be placed on the list of reportable diseases and conditio...more »

*Libya's Pleas For International Help Go Unanswered -- Deutsche Welle* Politicians in restless Libya have called on the United Nations to take measures to protect civilians. How this could be done, however, remains unclear. The international community's options are limited. The appeal came from Libya's far northeast in the coastal city of Tobruk, near the border with Egypt and around 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) east of the capital Tripoli. That's how far the newly appointed parliament has fled to escape the attacks and shootings in the capital. Libyan politicians urged the Unite...more »

Reddit has a live stream gathering all the information coming out as it happens here. We have Infowars, Vice News, local Fox2News, "I am Mike Brown from Ferguson MO" Liberty News Media, PANDA's Dan Johnson, Vice News' Tim Pool and STL County Police Scanner, as well.(you can view all livestreams below). *If you lose the connection, refresh screen.* *Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream* *Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream* *Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream* *Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream* ...more »

The situation in Iraq right now is a real mess… The former Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has been forced out of office by the Americans because he had started to no longer obey his American masters and was beginning to do what the Iraqi people had always wanted for themselves. And of course we still have the situation in northern Iraq where the US/Israeli bought and paid for "ISIS" force of mercenaries and hoodlums is running rampant and killing innocent Iraqis in the process…. Iraq is definitely in the process of being torn apart….. The situation in Afghanistan is not muc...more »

Abdullah Öcalan. (Photo: DHA) *Jailed Kurdish Leader Says War With Turkey Nearing End: Firatnews -- Reuters* (Reuters) - Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan said his movement's 30-year war with Turkey's government was nearing its end through democratic negotiations, Firatnews agency reported. Ankara began peace talks with the Kurdish leader in 2012 in a bid to end a 30-year-old insurgency which has killed 40,000 people, riven the country and battered its economy. A ceasefire called by Ocalan in March 2013 has largely held. "This 30-year war is nearing its end through ...more »

It's not a supposition. It's history, and extremely well-documented. Maddeline Albright wanted a military confrontation with Russia (and possibly China) over Serbia, while Putin was Prime Minister - the world came right to the brink on June 20th 1999. Putin outwitted NATO, and backed off the Zionists and NeoCons in Clinton's rogue cabinet by having Yeltsin publicly had Bill Clinton Lee Harvey Oswald's complete KGB File at the start of the G8 meeting the following week. The USS Missouri fired on, and sank the flagship of the Russian Submarine fleet, the Kursk, in Russian ter...more »

Michelle Rhee has failed as a test-driven education reformer. Rhee taught for three years (1992-95) in Baltimore as part of Teach for America (TFA). By her own admission, her first year was terrible. She taped students’ mouths and made them bleed, and she dropped a student off after a field trip at an unverified residence. […]

*Guest post by Mark Tammett* Unfashionable I know, in this election period, but I’d like to talk about policy. Specifically, new policies affecting residents of Christchurch – possible precursors to policies in the rest of the country. I’m talking about the council’s Christchurch Central Development Unit’s new "Liveable City" plan that, according to one objector, treats existing residents as expendable: This proposal has the worthwhile aim of increasing the number of people living in the central city to between 12,000 and 24,000, but proposes using deeply unfair means… The sole m...more »

One of the arguments used by New Zealand's Public Health experts still opposed to LCHF and Paleo diets - opposed, that is to the idea of the more saturated animal fats being safe, either overall, or in a mainly wholefood, low carb context - is that low-fat dietary guidelines, and the decreased intake of butter, with increased use of margarine and seed oils, ought to be given some of the credit for a decreased rate of heart disease in the past 30 years. They'll acknowledge that smoking cessation (to be fair, they had a bit to do with this too) accounts for some of the decrease. But is...more »

“Andromeda is the nearest major galaxy to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Our Galaxy is thought to look much like Andromeda. Together these two galaxies dominate the Local Group of galaxies. The diffuse light from Andromeda is caused by the hundreds of billions of stars that compose it. The several distinct stars that surround Andromeda's image are actually stars in our Galaxy that are well in front of the background object. *Click image for larger size.* Andromeda is frequently referred to as M31 since it is the 31st object on Messier's list of diffuse sky objects. M31 is so distant it ta...more »

*Photo Source: AFP/Getty.* "ISIS isn't an Islamic state. They're a Zarqawist death cult, the Khmer Rouge of the Middle East--and will do as much damage if not defeated." - *Joel Rayburn, author of, "Iraq after America: Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance" (2014).* "The more I dig into ISIS ops across northern Iraq, the more I see a pathological campaign to eliminate Shia, mainly Turkmen but also Arabs." - *Michael Knights, Lafer fellow at The Washington Institute.* "Since Isis took over large swaths of Iraq, in particular, Arabic media outlets of all types have produced reports abou...more »

*On Saturday, September 6, Norman Oder leads the MAS walking tour "Long Island City, Queens in Flux: Court Square and Hunters Point." I've done at least six or seven tours with Norman now, and they've all been tremendously rewarding.* *by Ken* If you look among the newly announced September, October, and November walking-tour offerings of the Municipal Art Society at the description of Francis's Morrone's September 28 tour, "Then and Now: Jane Jacobs and the West Village," you'll see that it -- looks at the life and work of Jane Jacobs, whose 1961 book *The Death and Life of Grea...more »

*by Paul Jacob* A week ago last Saturday, at high noon in Ferguson, Missouri, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead by police officer Darren Wilson. Brown was black, Wilson is white. Protests immediately followed, understandably; sadly, so did rioting and looting. Not to mention dueling narratives. Michael Brown was an unarmed kid walking to his grandmother’s house on that fateful day, and would have been on his way to college this fall. Instead, according to some accounts, Brown was gunned down in the sweltering August street in a hail of bul...more »

from WSWS.org: By Alan Gilman 28 June 2014 On June 25, Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB 215, legislation which streamlines the teacher dismissal process. The bill was lobbied heavily by the California Teachers Association (CTA) which joined with the right-wing anti-teacher organization EDVoice to get the bill passed. The issue concerning the process for firing teachers rose to prominence in 2012 when a teacher in Los Angeles was charged with committing 23 counts of lewd conduct upon several of his students. Although the teacher later pled guilty and wa...more »

*Guest post from our Russian correspondent, Mikhail Svetov* [image: u-genghis-khan-monument]I DECIDED TO WRITE THIS after I noticed that western libertarians have unaccountably developed a soft spot for Russian president Vladimir Putin. The consensus among them seems to be that Putin is in the right in Ukraine. Even Ron Paul, whom I normally admire, has fallen for his charms. But as a Russian libertarian myself, it leaves me disappointed and terribly sad. The biggest complaint from libertarians about the Ukraine seems to be that the government in Kyiv is somehow “fascist,” which ...more »

I paraphrase, check the audio: If you’re going to be a profession of sheep, then you’ll be run by wolves. Great conversation.Filed under: @TCF Radio Episodes Tagged: at the chalk face, berliner, education reform, NEPC, teacher evaluation, vam

[image: Image: Iraqi volunteers from the Yazidi sect gather during a training camp at the Serimli military base, which is controlled by YPG, in Qamishli] *The YPG in Syria are training the Yezidi refugees they rescued in Iraq. Photo Source: Reuters. * There is a worrying trend in Iraq and across the Middle East. U.S-trained armies are breaking down and abandoning their posts in the face of the ISIS onslaught. The Iraqi army ran away when ISIS invaded Mosul in June, and the Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government did likewise when ISIS invaded the Sinjar region. It l...more »

September 11th 2001 - The Third Occasion when Vladamir Putin Prevented World War III from Spike EP on Vimeo. *BUSH AND PUTIN ON 9/11* The potential for a thermonuclear confrontation or even of an all-out thermonuclear exchange growing out of 9/11 has generally been ignored by the US controlled media, but such a potential was clearly present. It was inherently present because of the tense relations among the US, Russia, and China in the wake of the bombing of Serbia and the Kursk incident. It was made explicit when a flying object, probably a cruise missile, hit the Pentagon. As ...more »

Captain Ron Johnson spoke of the need for communication, understanding, and faith at Sunday’s Rally for Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. Johnson began by apologizing to Brown’s family. “I wear this uniform, and I should stand up here and say that I’m sorry,” Johnson said to a long round of applause. “I’ll tell you right now, I came in today and saw people cheering and people clapping; this is what the media needs to put on TV.” Johnson replaced Ferguson Police Chief Jon Belmar after several days of over-militarized police presence led to a crisis in the St. Louis suburb. Johnson cit...more »

*Vacationing Obama Plans Brief Return to Washington -- VOA* President Barack Obama, who is on a two-week vacation to Massachusetts with his family, will return briefly to Washington for meetings, the White House said on Sunday. Obama is scheduled to be back at the White House Sunday around 11 p.m. EDT (0300 UTC), USA Today reported. While the White House did not say why Obama would need to attend unspecified meetings with Vice President Joe Biden and other advisers, The Associated Press reported that part of the decision appears aimed at countering criticism that Obama is spendin...more »

Tunisia's Libya Refugees. Source: CCTV Africa. Date Published: August 17, 2014. Description: Since NATO helped the Libyan rebels overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has descended into chaos. More than a million Libyans had sought shelter in neighbouring Tunisia, hoping their stay would be short lived and that stability would return to their homeland. Many are now facing the reality that their stay in Tunisia might be much longer than they had planned.

In my last post, I gave an introduction to the massive data work underlying *Capital in the Twenty-First Century*, as well as two clear results from Piketty's work. First, he showed that the optimistic Kuznets view after World War II that inequality was well on its way to being conquered was wrong, based on putting too much stock into a short-term trend. Inequality in fact has been increasing in the industrialized world since about 1980. Second, Piketty showed that a slow-growth economy is ripe for an increasing concentration of wealth in society, absent government action to counter ...more »

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-17/charting-poverty-ferguson-then-and-now Charting Poverty In Ferguson: Then And Now [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/17/2014 17:05 -0400 - Ben Bernanke - Ben Bernanke - None - Reality - Unemployment inShare While there have been many socio-economic 'explanations and justifications' for the recent events in Ferguson, many of which have exceeded the realm of the factual and have brazenly encroached on feelings, emotions, heartstrings, and various other of the media's favorite manipulative me...more »

The 1st idiot to run the DCCC, James Rood Doolittle, and the current incompetent, Steve Israel The DCCC started in 1866 and the first chairman set the tone for the impossibly incompetent organization House Democrats depend on today. Chairman #1, James Rood Doolittle of Wisconsin, didn't quite know what he was politically. He started as a Democrat, then switched to the Republicans and then switched back to the Democrats and was a prominent opponent of the Fifteenth Amendment , the one that gave former slaves U.S. citizenship. He was such a lousy chairman (1868) that they operated with...more »

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander of the U.S. European Command General Philip Breedlove speaks during a news conference at the National Defence headquarters in Ottawa May 6, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Chris Wattie *NATO Would Respond Militarily To Crimea-Style Infiltration: General -- Reuters* (Reuters) - If Russia tries to infiltrate troops into a NATO country, even out of official military uniform as it did before it annexed Ukraine's Crimea, NATO will respond militarily, the alliance's top commander said in an interview published on Sunday. Soldiers wearing uniform...more »

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I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.